He's not Ready
by the stargate time traveller
Summary: Admiral Pike receives word about Kirk's breaking of the Prime Directive, and he is not happy. (Spoilers for Into Darkness)


I don't own Star Trek in any form.

Feedback would be nice. Enjoy.

* * *

He's not Ready.

Admiral Christopher Pike hated it when he was disappointed by his proteges, and this was no exception. Though now those feelings of disappointment became far worse because it now reflected badly on him. Pike wondered if it had anything to do with the straightforward fact that now he had been promoted to Admiral and his role had become far more political now he was expected to remain on Earth, at Starfleet Headquarters. In the end, he didn't care.

Pike wished he had the ability to kick something in frustration, like his desk in his new office which was part of the job since he had been promoted, or something less likely to give him a stubbed toe which would ache. But thanks to the cane he needed to keep upright and his limp, Pike knew he was just lucky to still be walking after what those deranged Romulan bastards had done to him a year ago.

But he wasn't going to kick anything.

He was just too experienced a Starfleet officer and even though he gave the temptation _some _serious consideration, he came to the simple realisation that even if the kick did manage to bleed out some of the worst of his feelings, he knew it would do little good. He was both so frustrated and disappointed that he would need to express his emotions in a different way.

He _could __**murder **_Kirk for this!

Why couldn't the stupid child follow orders and drop the juvenile cockiness, just for _once?_

Pike sighed and he hobbled over to the window and looked out at the view of Starfleet Headquarters. Starfleet had just received a report from Mr Spock which contradicted what Kirk had said about a 'routine' survey to the planet Nibiru. What did Kirk do instead? He detonated a cold-fusion device, or rather _Spock _had and saved a primitive culture from extinction.

Pike understood the rationale and the theory behind the violation. Kirk had not done anything out of malice. In fact, he had wanted to help that culture survive, but while Starfleet would frown on something like this, they would have accepted it had the mission gone on without the crew or any Starfleet technology being seen.

Unfortunately, that was what had happened.

Why was it hard for Kirk to hide the truth of what he had done? Pike sighed and closed his eyes and resisted the urge to bang his head on the glass. He knew why Kirk had hidden the truth and lied so blatantly.

Starfleet did not take violations of the Prime Directive lightly. It was one of the most taboo things a Starfleet officer could do, and while that officer may get a reprimand, or a court-martial, depending on its severity, they were usually allowed to go on with their lives. So Pike did understand where Kirk was coming from. So did the other Admirals in Starfleet.

Only Kirk knew this violation was too great. He had _hidden _the Enterprise underwater on that planet, and he had _**risked the lives of everyone under his command to just save one man! **_The inhabitants of the planet had seen the ship rise out of the water and head for Spock in that volcano before it went upwards back into space, so God only knew what had happened after; if the next survey team found out the people of Nibiru had started to worship the Enterprise, Pike had no idea whether he was going to laugh or suffer a nervous breakdown.

But what made it worse was Kirk had not just lied, they had to get the proper account of what had happened from _Spock. _It was clear neither men even knew what the other had done, but Pike honestly hoped it shocked them both. He was not happy with either of them. But the worse was to come and he knew it.

The news of what Kirk had done had already penetrated the command level. Pike had suffered another slap to the face when he had learnt Admiral Marcus, his old mentor and the man who had brought him into Starfleet, had not just convened about the matter. Pike didn't know what Admirals invited to the meeting had come to an agreement about, he knew Kirk was not going to like it.

And yet Pike found he didn't care. It was long past the point Kirk began to take things a bit more seriously. If it didn't happen now, then Pike knew life would drop around him and shatter like a pane of glass, only Kirk would need to pick up the pieces.

The door chimed.

"Come in," he said, turning and almost crashed to attention when he saw Admiral Marcus stroll in. Marcus saw the pose and waved Pike down to relax.

"It's alright, Chris," he said, "I just want to talk."

"About Kirk." It wasn't a question and both men knew it.

Marcus sighed and looked at Pike regretfully. "I had to keep you from the meeting, Chris. I needed clear and objective minds about what could be done to punish Kirk."

Pike nodded in understanding. He was still annoyed that he hadn't been dragged in, but looking back he knew he was simply too close to Kirk to be the type of mind Marcus had wanted at that meeting. "What have you decided?" he asked, wanting this meeting over with now.

Marcus was silent for a moment as he gathered his thoughts. "Kirk is going to be demoted back to a cadet. The Enterprise is going to be put into the command of someone different, someone _professional," _he stressed the word, "As for Kirk….He's going to be sent back to the Academy. I'm sorry, Chris," he added when he saw the expression on the other man's face, able to read the pain that was thereupon hearing that news, "but Kirk needed to be punished severely for what he has done. The Enterprise is one of the coveted ships in the fleet. Not only is she one of the newest Constitution-class vessels in service, but she is also the flagship; she will be at the forefront of diplomacy for the Federation and representing our community, being at the most important functions imaginable while being despatched on important missions. What Captain wouldn't want the opportunity for that? And everyone knows there will be a shortlist for other commanders to take the chair. We gave the ship to Kirk because we had felt at the time he was competent."

Pike looked down but he looked at Marcus. "He is, Alex," he said, using the older man's first name. They had gone past the point where rank and last names were used. "He is competent. Granted, he did things on the Enterprise during that disaster with Nero a well-trained captain would never have done, but he succeeded."

Marcus nodded. "I know. And believe me, we are grateful to him for that. We promoted him for that reason because let's face it, while Mr Spock is a professional officer, his rule-abiding nature as a Vulcan would have made it impossible to see and act against Nero before Earth was destroyed. The fact Kirk acted to save Earth without the fleet stopped the Federation from collapsing because of that insane Romulan bastard says he looks at the big picture, and he is able to take command when it's needed."

Pike nodded, inwardly cringing at the memories of what Nero had done to him.

"Believe me, Chris," Marcus was saying, "we didn't want to take command away from Kirk. Despite his….unorthodox methods, Kirk has impressed a number of Admirals, including myself. He reminded me of me, really," a craggy smile spread over Marcus's face but then it disappeared, "but we could not let this go unpunished. You know the first duty of a Starfleet officer, its to the truth. We cannot have someone who will brazenly lie on an official report. We have enough problems as it is, Chris," Marcus reminded him pointedly.

Chris closed his eyes. He knew Marcus was right there. Starfleet and the Federation had hundreds of problems. The destruction Nero had left in his wake had caused so many problems. Nero had destroyed a number of Klingon warships. If there was one thing sure to enrage the Klingons, it was an attack, but fortunately, the Federation didn't have to worry there. The Romulans themselves had to contend with the issues there. Chris had access to intelligence reports and meetings, and there was a certainty now that the Klingons would launch an invasion of Romulan space out of vengeance now Nero was dead. The Klingons would almost certainly win; their warships were more powerful than the fleet the Romulans possessed, and they had a non-stop research program in place to research and augment their existing warships to make them more powerful and lethal.

The Romulans in comparison were a much smaller power. They had warp capability, but the speeds their ships were capable of were so slow they may as well travel at impulse only. They had much the same weapons their Klingon counterparts possessed, but they were scaled downward in power and quality, but their one equaliser was their cloaking device, a technology which would render an object invisible. Pike knew the Romulans were laying minefields through their territory out of fear of an attack, knowing that if the Klingons did attack, they would need to slow them down.

But unfortunately, the Romulans were not the only ones at risk. The Federation was also in danger of being overrun by the belligerent Klingons. Before Nero had launched his genocidal rampage, there had been an uneasy peace of sorts, although it was mostly because both the Federation and the Klingon Empire were both at equal strength.

Not anymore. The destruction of Vulcan was the equivalent of a bleeding wound, and the Klingons were like a pack of hungry, savage and vicious animals, poised to attack. They sensed weakness and while the diplomats were trying their best to prevent a Klingon invasion, Pike knew Marcus took a more pragmatic view. Everyone in Starfleet knew that Marcus was ordering more and more explorations into deep space in the hopes of finding new technologies so then they could utilise better defences and while it was certainly true Starfleet was quickly becoming more and more militant and Pike himself had concerns their organisation would lose its original purpose, he knew it might be necessary.

"I didn't want Kirk to be punished like he had," Marcus went on, breaking through Pike's thoughts and Pike turned to look at his old mentor. "We owe him a great deal because if Spock had his way, more planets in the Federation would have been destroyed by that Romulan, but we need captains who will tell us the truth."

"I doubt Kirk would lie in times of war," Pike pointed out. He wasn't necessarily sticking up for Kirk since Marcus had already made his decision and he knew there was nothing he could do to make the other man change his mind, though in truth he wasn't even trying because Kirk had gone too far this time.

Marcus nodded. The look in his eyes made it clear to Pike he knew what he was saying and that he wasn't fighting him on the decision. "I feel the same way, Chris," he said.

"Who's going to break the news?" Pike asked, wondering for a moment if Marcus would have someone else do it, someone who didn't know what Kirk was like and would speak harshly to him. He honestly hoped it wouldn't be him, because at this point he genuinely did not want to speak to Kirk unless he had to.

"I want you to do it. We know Kirk's reputation and his attitude, and you seem to the be the only one at this point he listens to, so coming from you it might show him the seriousness of this mess," Marcus said.

Pike lifted an eyebrow in a manner somewhat reminiscent to that of a Vulcan. Had someone else said that to him, he would have felt the decision was a cowardly one, but he knew Marcus was not a coward. He knew his old mentor had done this deliberately so then Kirk had to deal with him to make it clear where everything stood. A part of him wondered if this was all being done out of spite, another slap to the face but he wasn't going to even ask.

In a way, it would be a good idea to make Kirk wake up and see reality instead of wandering around like a man-child and causing one disaster after another. And yet… Pike honestly wondered if it would do any good.


End file.
